This Grand Strand golf course is on its way to becoming a housing plan

Another Grand Strand golf course is on its way to being rezoned into a housing development.

Plans for Heather Glen, located at 4650 Heather Glen Way in Little River, were approved by the Horry County Planning Commission on Sept. 7 to be rezoned, bringing about 1,100 units, with 799 single-family homes and 284 duplex units to the area, according to a sketch plan for the site.

The course, which is currently zoned as SF10 – residential with minimum lot sizes of 10,000-square-feet – will be rezoned as MRD2, which allows for mixed residential development in suburban areas.

However, the development is cause for concern for many residents who live in the area. About 40 to 50 people attended the Horry County Planning Commission, where they expressed concerns regarding traffic and flooding, according to David Schwerd, deputy director of Horry County Planning Commission.

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Schwerd said the developer, Thomas & Hutton, has been working with the county to quash these concerns.

“They have been coordinating to reconfigure the existing entrance of Heather Glen and install new turn lanes,” Schwerd said.

Heather Glen Way, the entrance onto the course, exits onto U.S. 17. Instead of a red light, there is a stop sign leading to the highway.

Schwerd said action is also being taken to stop flooding in the area by fixing problems downstream from where construction will be.

Mullet Creek runs through the development, and the Intracoastal Waterway is on the other side of U.S. 17.

Before development can begin, plans need to be passed through three readings by Horry County Council. The first reading is set for Sept. 19. At the second reading, citizens can once again express concerns against the development.

If the proposal is passed, development will begin in 2018.

Other golf courses along the Grand Strand have been subject to rezoning resulting in new housing plans.

In February, construction at the former 54-hold Bay Tree Golf Plantation, which closed in 2006, began. The 530-acre development, located along S.C. 9 across from McLeod Seacoast Hospital, will bring 970 single-family units and 580 multi-family units.

Development at the former Deer Track Golf Resort in Surfside Beach continued in June with the incorporation of Ocean Commons, a new neighborhood in the development. The course closed in 2006.

As for Heather Glen, the course will remain open until construction would begin.